You’re invited to an outside in-person and hands-on workshop in Nelson all about flax fibre processing presented by Young Agrarians and the EartHand Gleaners Society.
This is the sixth event of the Young Agrarians 2021 Columbia Basin Farm Club event series. What is a Farm Club? A Farm Club is when farmers come together to connect and nerd out with other farmers. It can be on any topic the group wants to discuss and can take many different shapes and sizes.
The workshop will be led by Jaymie Johnson, member of EartHand Gleaners Society. Jaymie first grew flax for fibre in Vancouver in 2017 with the instruction of EartHand artists Sharon Kallis and Rebecca Graham. At that time EartHand had been growing flax for fibre in collaboration with community already for 4 years, since 2013. This is Jaymie’s first year growing flax for fibre in the Kootenays and she’s enthusiastic about including the community alongside her for the learning journey.
The afternoon will include an overview of flax as a fibre plant, Jaymie’s personal experiences with flax so far, as well as a hands-on demonstration and opportunity to participate in the processes of breaking, scutching, and hackling flax using traditional wooden instruments. In the event that there’s flax ready to spin feel free to bring your drop spindle if you have one!
Young Agrarians is a farmer-to-farmer network of new and young farmers in Canada with programs in the Kootenays offering land matching, business and educational support and resources.
Don’t miss out on this outdoor educational and social opportunity open to everyone to learn some new skills and make some new friends! There are only 15 spots available for this event so if you’re interested in joining us on October 3rd, register now!
DATE: Sunday, October 3, 2021 • 1-4pm PST
LOCATION: Traditional and unceded territories of the Ktunaxa, Sinixt and Syilx Nations. The Rotary Gazebo at Lakeside Park, 306 Elwyn St, Nelson BC, V1L 6G4
REGISTER: PLEASE REGISTER HERE to reserve your spot. This event is open to everyone but please pay what you are able to afford within this range ($5-$20). Ticket sale donations will go towards an honorarium for the teacher, venue and materials.
SCHEDULE:
WHAT YOU’LL NEED: A warm jacket! Optional: face mask.
Learn more about EartHand Gleaners Society:
EartHand Gleaners Society is an arts-based non-profit that models how to “Be a Producer without first being a Consumer”. EartHand uses a community-engaged model for creating environmental art programs with opportunities for research, skill development and skill sharing. Their projects foster multicultural, interdisciplinary collaboration among community members and professionals in the fields of education, sciences and the arts.
www.earthand.com
About the artist
Jaymie Johnson has formal training from Emily Carr University of Art + Design (BFA 2015) and the San Francisco Art Institute as well as years of mentorship from environmental community and public artists Sharon Kallis (EartHand Gleaners Society) and Dr. Cameron Cartiere (Border Free Bees). She’s recently relocated back to her hometown of Nelson on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territory of the Sinixt, Ktunaxa, and Syilx peoples, and the Yaqan Nukiy Lower Kootenay Band, where she is the Nelson Lead Artist for EartHand Gleaners Society. Jaymie is passionate about plants and the potential that building relationship with the plants around us has to strengthen our connection to place, our histories, and one another.
www.jaymiejohnson.ca
Check out the rest of the events this season in this blog post. Don’t miss an update by subscribing to our Columbia Basin/Kootenay newsletter!
Additional Information
- Join our Young Agrarians Columbia Basin Facebook Group to stay up-to-date with all events.
If you have any questions please contact Hailey@youngagrarians.org.
GOT LAND? WANT LAND?
Through the B.C. Land Matching Program, Young Agrarians is offering support to farmers looking for land for their farm business and landowners looking for farmers to farm their land. The Columbia Basin Land Matcher will be attending the event to answer any questions about accessing land through this program. For those unable to join us, you can send a message to hailey@youngagrarians.org for more information.
THANK YOU!
The Columbia Basin event series is made possible with funding from Columbia Basin Trust.
